With the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation funding the work, Deborah Knapp, a Purdue University professor of veterinary medicine and a veterinary medical oncologist, and her group have teamed up with Larry Glickman, a professor of epidemiology and environmental medicine, and Dr. Elaine Ostrander at the National Institutes of Health to research dogs at risk for developing urinary bladder cancer or transitional cell carcinoma.
The research group collects blood samples from dogs that go to Purdue University Veterinary Teaching Hospital such as Scottish terriers and other “at risk” breeds. They also collect blood from older Scottish terriers that do not have TCC.
“These blood samples are then shipped to Dr. Ostrander for whole genome scanning, a process that will enable us to determine the differences in the DNA between dogs with cancer and dogs without cancer,” she said. “It is likely that these differences will reveal genetic factors involved in TCC risk.”
Knapp said they have identified some regions of the DNA that is different between dogs with cancer and dogs without cancer.
See Scottie News‘ previous coverage of this dog cancer research.
Tagged as:
bladder cancer,
Ostrander
Great Scots Magazine reports that Scottie dog blood samples are needed by Dr. Elaine Ostrander, Chief of the Cancer Genetics Branch of the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute. Since 2006, she has led the search for the gene responsible for the epidemic of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (TCC) in the Scottish Terrier, thanks to a grant funded by the STCA Health Trust Fund, the Westie Foundation, and the AKC Canine Health Foundation.
According to the article’s writers, “the ultimate goal of the TCC study is a genetic test that can identify individuals at risk for developing the disease. With such information, breeders can devise strategies that have the potential to eliminate—or at least diminish—this plague among Scottish terriers. Dr. Ostrander believes that Scottie life spans could be meaningfully and positively affected within a decade after the test becomes available. In order to speed this process, more samples are needed.”
Dr. Ostrander is looking for:
- All Scotties, regardless of age, known to be affected with TCC
- Any Scottie nearly 12 years old or older who has not been diagnosed with any cancer
Read the entire article and find out where to send blood samples here.
Tagged as:
bladder cancer,
Ostrander
